Restaurant Reviews and Social

Average rating: 3.5

Latest review:
Hai Cenato in Victoria is a posher/funkier version of Pizza Express or a slumming it version of a high-end artisan kitchen. In other words, the food is okay but not that good. In fact, Pizza Express if far superior.
What was spectacularly bad though was the customer service. It appears that Hai Cenato's motto is that the customer is always wrong. Having confirmed that they would take an 'Open Table' voucher at the beginning of the meal, they refused to at the end.
That is annoying and they could have simply reduced some of the bill as a gesture of goodwill. Instead, after a lot of coming and going, they took off the service charge. That's right. The service charge that is discretionary and for the staff that serves the customer. The manager didn't seem to understand why this was shameful. Having got nowhere at the restaurant I contacted the owners only to discover that their team take a similar approach. They put the blame on Open Table, but Open Table stated the restaurant had informed them they did take vouchers, and the restaurant refused to acknowledge that their behaviour to their staff was poor.
As of writing, they are refusing to give a refund on the bill, pay their staff or donate to a food charity. The Hai Cenato team don't seem to understand that you should always keep your existing customers as it is so hard to gain new ones. Obviously, this is one for the never to return to list.Posted by Simon Goldie 2 months ago